BRITAIN has the fifth-happiest population in the world, but ranks behind Australia, the United States, Egypt and India for satisfaction, according to an international survey.

Nearly one third of British respondents to the survey said they were “very happy” when asked to rate their overall quality of life out of five categories.

A further 57 per cent described themselves as satisfied, with 7 per cent expressing disappointment with their lives.

Levels of happiness varied according to age group and region, indicating that teenagers in the South West of England are some of the most contented people in the country, while thirtysomethings in Wales typically have cause for complaint.

Only 1 per cent of Britons said that they were specifically unhappy, while 3 per cent said they had no strong feelings on the matter.

In the survey of thousands of people in 30 countries, one fifth of the global total claimed to be very happy with their lives. The majority, 62 per cent, said they were satisfied.

Australians were the happiest, with a proportion equivalent to 46 per cent of the population saying they were very happy, along with 40 per cent of Americans. Britain shared the joint-fifth spot with Canada, where 32 per cent claimed to be very happy.

One tenth of those questioned across five continents said that they were “disappointed” with their lives and an unfortunate 4 per cent admitted to being “very unhappy”.

Hungary was the least happy nation, with 35 per cent saying they were either disappointed or very unhappy. Russian, Turkish, South African and Polish respondents were also relatively disappointed.

The survey, by GfK NOP, a market research company, was based on interviews with 30,000 people aged over 13.

In contrast to the stereotype of sullen adolescence and teenage angst, globally the happiest age group was 13 to 19-year-olds, a quarter of whom claimed to be very happy. Among British teenagers the proportion rose to 40 per cent.

The trend of a carefree youth continued with 32 per cent of twentysomethings mirroring the national average for happiness. But only a quarter of respondents in their 30s said they were happy.

Globally, the most miserable were those aged 50 to 59, only 16 per cent of whom described themselves as very happy.

In Britain, regional contrasts emerged between the South West, where 52 per cent said they were very happy, and Wales, where only 17 per cent said the same. In London, only 23 per cent said they were very happy.

The researchers found that intangible factors such as stability and family life were rated as more conducive to happiness than money and possessions.

Top of the list of what made people happy was good health, followed by financial security, home ownership, marriage and children.

Having an interesting job and leisure time also ranked high, while material items rated comparatively low.

The majority of those who were less happy were in lowincome groups or were unemployed, however, and the results suggested that alcohol and fast food did not contribute significantly to happiness, the researchers said.

Those who described themselves as happy were found to worry less about money and more about issues such as Aids, terrorism and education.

The research did not include results from arguably some of the world’s unhappiest countries, such as Iraq and Sudan.

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Percentage of Britons who said they are very happy by region:

1 South West 52
2 East Midlands 42
3 West Midlands 41
4 Scotland 36
5 North East 34
6 North West 31
7 Yorkshire 31
8 South East 28
9 London 23
10 Wales 17
(National average 32 per cent)

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